Opioid Reduction Act - Effective June 9, 2018 - Current Topics

Opioid Reduction Act - Effective June 9, 2018

6/18/2018

Pursuant to WV Code 16-54-4.(i), a veterinarian may not issue more than an initial opioid prescription for more than a 7 day supply. The prescription shall be for the lowest effective dose, which in the medical judgment of the veterinarian, would be the best course of treatment for this patient and his or her condition.

The WV Board of Pharmacy will be issuing quarterly reports of opioid prescribing patterns to identify potentially unusual or abnormal prescribers. These reports will be provided to the appropriate licensing board. WV Code 30-10-19 states that the Board may upon its own motion and shall upon the written complaint of any person or based upon the quarterly report from the Board of Pharmacy as required by WV Code 60A-9-1 et seq. of this code cause an investigation to be made to determine whether grounds exist for disciplinary action under this article.

§60a-9-5a (b): All persons with prescriptive or dispensing authority …. upon initially prescribing or dispensing any Schedule II controlled substance, any opioid or any benzodiazepine to a patient who is not suffering from a terminal illness, and at least annually thereafter should the practitioner or dispenser continue to treat the patient with a controlled substance, shall access the West Virginia Controlled Substances Monitoring Program Database for information regarding specific patients. The information obtained from accessing the West Virginia Controlled Substances Monitoring Program Database for the patient shall be documented in the patient’s medical record

For clarification on the controlled substance monitoring and the new regulation for opioids, click here for questions and the answers that we have received from the WV Board of Pharmacy. Please contact the Board should you have questions that are not answered on this list.